By ELIZABETH VALENTIN
Arts Editor
I have been visiting my family in Puerto Rico since I was 4 years old. Some of my first memories are of palm trees dancing in the wind and waves attacking the sand. I have more than 100 relatives in Puerto Rico and my grandmother and I take a yearly trip at the end of the summer to visit them. The distinct smell of the island instantly became recognizable the moment I left the airport. The smell was a mixture of the salt water from the beaches, the moisture in the air, and the food all around.
We stayed with my great-grandfather and his house is where some of my fondest memories take place. I would stay up late with him on the porch playing dominos as the coqui, the indigenous frog, played music for us. The song of the coqui is one of my favorite sounds as they sing their name “coqui, coqui” throughout the night. I would lay in a hammock with him on the porch and let the day fade away. Every morning, my grandmother and I would wake up before him and walk five blocks to the beach, where occasional wild horses visited us. They trotted on the sand, up and down the crashing waves as we watched them.
My family lives all over Puerto Rico, which means that I’ve traveled across most of the island during my visits there. I would visit my Titi Lydia in El Yunque, the rainforest on the island. The lush green trees on the high mountains were always something that I loved about going to see her. From up in those mountains, the lights of different Puerto Rican towns are visible.
One of my favorite parts of Puerto Rico is El Morro, a huge castle that has been converted into a museum. It once was the entrance to San Juan Bay, but is now filled with artifacts like cannons and statues of people who played a significant role in Puerto Rico’s history.
La Playa de Luquillo is a large beach in Puerto Rico that is often full of people. There are food shacks and music all across the beach and a boardwalk that lines the entrance. Some of my favorite memories with my great-grandfather and several aunts and cousins takes place here. Memories of laughter and fun.
The recent events in Puerto Rico offer very little of this laughter and fun, as the island I once knew is now unrecognizable. This comes in the form of torn apart houses, naked and collapsed trees, and intense flooding. Places I’ve been to a hundred times before are absolutely destroyed. Debris is left where I have fond memories.
My family has been struggling since hurricane Maria tore through the island. My cousin Damaris, 34, needs a lung transplant and is using an oxygen tank. This oxygen tank needs to be plugged in, and because there is no power on the island, this poses a great threat for her as her life is now in danger.
My Titi Lydia, who lives in the rainforest, remained in her home during the hurricane. There was little structural damage done to her house, but there are landslides all along the mountains, preventing her from leaving her house. This is made even worse by the fact that her house is now sinking. We have yet to hear any information from several members of my family.
My great-grandfather’s house—the home I grew up in while I was there—is in Loiza, which has remained completely flooded. Everything I knew in Puerto Rico is gone. This is the impact this storm has had on me and my family. It has taken hold of the place and people that I love dearly and broken my heart.
There have been people who have vocalized their opinions regarding the way that the United States government has reacted to the hurricane in Puerto Rico. A number of people have been saying that Puerto Ricans are not real Americans because Puerto Rico is a territory and not a state.
This argument is invalid because Puerto Ricans pay American taxes and fight in wars as American soldiers. My Tio Carlos was drafted into the Vietnam war as an American soldier and was shot and almost killed during that war. He is a veteran and to say that he is any less American because he lives in Puerto Rico disgraces the time he spent fighting for this country.
Regardless of nationality, or whether you believe that Puerto Ricans are real Americans, all people should feel a moral obligations to help others in need simply because it is the right thing to do. We should help all people in need and be kind to one another, in spite of where they are from, what religion they practice, or who they are.
